Engineering Manager, Online Data Systems

at OpenAI

📍 San Francisco, United States

USD 325,000-405,000 per year

SENIOR

✅ On-site

✅ Relocation

Tech Stack
Tag name is followed by "@" symbol and proficiency level value. About proficiency levels:

1-2 — basic awareness. Minimal hands-on experience, and a rudimentary understanding of the technology's purpose;

3-6 — daily use. Comfortable and regular usage, capable of handling common tasks and challenges related to the technology;

7-9 — you are an expert, you can teach others, you know all the pitfalls and tricks;

10 — exceptional knowledge, comprehensive understanding, and adeptness in all aspects of the technology, including advanced problem-solving. Think twice before claiming or demanding such level.

AI ChatGPT Codex Distributed Systems @ 7 Hiring @ 6 Performance Optimization Security @ 4

Details

The Online Data team builds and operates the core online database and indexing services for OpenAI's production AI applications, including ChatGPT and Codex. The team focuses on the reliability, correctness, and scalability of the online data stack and delivers services for multi-region, multi-cloud, and exabyte-scale data infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Build, lead, and grow high-performing infrastructure engineering teams.
Drive the evolution of OpenAI's in-house online data technologies, including hyperscale database systems, indexing technologies, and vector search.
Oversee engineering work involving distributed query execution, multi-region federation, self-orchestrating and self-healing services, and low-level performance optimization.
Anchor delivery around measurable reliability goals, including service-level objectives (SLOs), to ensure system performance and resiliency.
Champion the pragmatic use of agent technology to amplify execution velocity.
Reduce operational toil and incident frequency through better abstractions, guardrails, and self-healing systems.

Requirements

An insatiable focus on operational excellence, demonstrated through hands-on experience building and operating infrastructure with strict reliability, latency, and security requirements.
Experience managing data-intensive software engineering teams in intense, demanding environments.
Deep hands-on understanding of database, indexing, storage, and distributed systems technologies.
Ability to modulate technical engagement effectively while creating space for a highly technical team to lead and grow.
A demonstrable track record of hiring, developing, and retaining senior engineers.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. The company is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

Benefits

Base salary range of $325,000–$405,000 per year, plus equity.
Performance-related bonuses for eligible employees.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
Pre-tax accounts for health and dependent care expenses, as well as commuter expenses.
401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
Paid time off, paid company holidays, office closures, and paid sick or safe time.
Mental health and wellness support.
Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
Annual learning and development stipend.
Daily meals in offices and eligible meal delivery credits.
Relocation support for eligible employees.
Additional benefits may include charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.